title: Nursing care of personality disorders in the medical surgery setting.
abstract: When patients with personality disorders are treated for medical conditions in an acute care setting, nurses are frequently unaware of the diagnosis. Yet the behavior patterns can create problems for both patient and nursing staff. This article will (1) present an overview of personality disorders; (2) examine personality characteristics of patients with borderline and antisocial personality disorders and the difficulties that arise from splitting, impulsiveness, suicide attempts, manipulation, and aggression; and (3) discuss intervention strategies the nurse who encounters a patient exhibiting a personality disorder can use.
authors.affiliation: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, School of Nursing, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37403, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trimpey
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Davidson
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D006801:Humans; D008257:Machiavellianism; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology